


Vice and Virtue

by taroprince



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate universe - Mafia, Angst, Eventual Smut, JunHao - Freeform, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:27:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27772243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taroprince/pseuds/taroprince
Summary: There is no justice in the world, not to Minghao.Everything comes at a price, and no matter how much he wants to escape or regain hope in humanity,life always fails him.But right when he loses all hopethere was Junhui.the definition of Vice and Virtue
Relationships: Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. The Alleyway

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING!!!
> 
> In this chapter, there are depictions of violence and bloody imagery, so if you are uncomfortable with that I suggest you don't read this story since there will be many moments where violence occurs as well as bloody imagery.

The streets laid cold and silent at the dead of night. Nothing but the soft sound of Minghao's short breath could be heard down the drab alleyway that he considered to be home. His throat was barren, and his stomach ached in pain from the overwhelming emptiness. Snow lightly covered his boney frame, as if he was an old forgotten toy collecting dust in a closet.

He was dying, he could feel it. His heartbeat was slow, and his body looked like it could break with a single touch. 

Part of him wanted to die, he didn't want to live in pain anymore, his life felt like it was nothing more than a complete failure. What was the point in holding onto nothing? Did he really believe that life wasn't that cruel? That an angel would come from the sky and save him from poverty, to save him from the loneliness that lived inside him, to tell him he was still capable of being loved? 

No… life wasn't that forgiving.

The other part of Minghao wanted to keep living. He didn't want to die, not yet, he wanted his life to reset, start over from the beginning and stop himself from making future mistakes. Then maybe… he wouldn't be in this alleyway, perhaps he would be living a happy life, one where Minghao would no longer be alone. One where it was warm, one where he finally mattered. He thought that maybe it wasn't too late, that if he kept holding on… onto hope, perhaps someone would save him. 

That if he reached out far enough, someone could hear his cries of suffering… of loneliness, and help the dying man before them that was still holding on. 

Dying or not, no one would save him. Who would save the helpless boy clad with a filthy stained, ripped thin shirt, and pants that were outgrown for the now-adult boy. Who would save the boy whose teeth had been rotting and yellowed, whose hair had overgrown and looked like a dog who got mud entangled within its fur? 

He was disgusting, he wasn't someone worth saving, he wasn't worth a dime, or even a crumb of bread in the public's eyes. No matter if he sat outside the alleyway with a can hoping someone would drop a penny or maybe a piece of bread, no one would. They all would pretend he never existed, acting like he was nothing more than the scum of the earth. 

With all the strength he had, he stood up, holding onto the wall for support as he walked toward the light of the world. People bustled by ignoring the boy standing against the alleyway that looked sad and alone. He crouched back down onto the ground, not able to stand up for very long due to the little amount of nutrients in his body. He could hear people whisper about him, about how sad it was to look at him, about how he must have gotten in this situation, how he failed. Despite their gossips of how bad they felt for the boy, no one helped him. 

"How Ironic…" He whispered to himself, though dry in tone, the reality of the sentence remained like a heavy weight. What would it take for someone to help? It was a question he often pondered, but he never could find the answer. He wanted someone to notice him. Even if it was just to give a single penny, he wanted to know if anyone could actually see him if he actually existed. 

As the night went on, people started to go home, to their warm beds, to their loving families, while Minghao remained on the edge of the alleyway. Minghao could hear laughter coming down the street and cans of beer being thrown down the street, they were crushed and looked like they had the life sucked out of them. Three men walked toward the alley and saw Minghao sitting there with his small rusted can, that had nothing more than cobwebs to fill it. 

"Ay, look at the little runt." The man pointed at him, his face was bright red, he was mostly likely drunk from all the alcohol that wafted off of his presence, and his buddies looked like they were out of it as well. Minghao's body curled inside of itself out of disgust and fear. 

"Aye mouse," The man kicked Minghao down onto the ground, the amount of force used on him was uncalled for, it felt like Minghao's ribs cracked, his head hit hard against the ground. He was rifling in pain, but what else was new? "Got any change for us?" The drunk man walked over to the old rusted can and tipped it over into his hand, nothing came out but little bits of rust that had flaked off of the can, the man got angry.

"Hey, what kind of joke is this!" He threw the can as hard as he could at Minghao's head. He screeched out in pain, his buddies laughed at Minghao's expense. Tears started to well in Minghao's eyes, why? Why was this happening? What kind of sick joke was god trying to play now? 

"God, this little runt can't even make decent change for us, huh?" One of the men whispered to his other alcoholic friend. "What a nuisance." They looked down on Minghao who was trying to crawl his way out of the alley to grab the can. It was the only he had to call his own, and despite being kicked and knocked in the head, he still pushed on. 

"Hey!" The man stepped on Minghao's hand.

"AH!" The man ground his foot down onto Minghao's hand, the gravel and the shoe rubbed hard against his skin, it felt like his skin was going to tear. 

"I don't like it when runts can't pay up." His friends snickered at him and walked into the alleyway. "It fucking pisses me off!" He kicked hard against Minghao's stomach, Minghao's breath left his body, his entire body felt like it was falling apart. One of the men pulled out a bottle of water and hung it above Minghao's head, taunting him like a beat-up dog. 

"Hehe, want the water, little runt?" He uncapped the water and dumped it in front of Minghao's face. The water looked so refreshing just looking at it, his mouth watered, and his throat felt desperate for the liquid. After the last ounce of water dripped out of the bottle, he threw the bottle away and started to laugh. "Go ahead dog, drink up!" They all laughed at him, and despite wanting to drink the water, he didn't want to give them the satisfaction. To Minghao's own surprise, it looked like he still had a little bit of humility left.

"Aye!" He stepped on Minghao's face and crushed it into the ground. "When someone offers you a drink you drink up, quit being a little bitch, and drink already." Minghao laid their pressed against the ground, wondering what could have happened to them tonight to make them like this. The man stepped off of him and looked down on him with disgust. "Ungrateful bitch…" he mumbled. The main man in the group just sighed disappointedly.

"Runts that don't behave, deserve to be punished," He walked closer to Minghao, the rest of them following behind. "Wouldn't you guys agree?" They all chuckled in agreement, Minghao quivered in fear, tears balling in his eyes, he just wanted to be left alone, or at the very least wanted the pain to end. Before he knew it, the men started to kick him wildly, all at different speeds and amounts of force. With each kick, Minghao would let out a cry of pain, like he was shouting into the void for help…

But no one came. 

"Piece of Shit!" Kick.

"Runt!" Kick. 

"Fucking waste." Kick.

"Please… stop it." He choked out, he was unable to move anymore, he could only speak in small words due to the lacking amount of air in his lungs. The drunk man got angrier, he leaned down and picked Minghao up and pinned him against the wall by holding onto his ripped, stained shirt. Minghao didn't know why these men took their anger out onto him, maybe they were upset with their own lives. Perhaps they saw Minghao as a punching bag like he was a way to relieve all their problems. Maybe that was Minghao's life purpose. Just a worthless little punching bag. 

"Hehe…" Minghao managed to chuckle out.

"What the hell is so funny?" The man said through his teeth, he shook Minghao and pulled his shirt tighter into his fist. "I'll wipe that fucking grin off of your face!" 

"I'm sorry to intrude," All the men froze and looked over at the opening of the alleyway. There stood a man in a long black trench coat, his hair a dark matte black, and beside him was another man with the same coat wearing round glasses. "But please, put the poor man down." Minghao's eyes opened when he felt no pain, but instead heard a dark voice speak out.

"And who the fuck are you?" The man dropped Minghao on the ground, and he collapsed with a thud. 

"I'm just a simple bystander asking you to quit being such a pest." The drunk man walked toward the man, his hands in his pockets sneering up at him. 

"Where the hell do you get the nerve talking to me like that?" The man rubbed his foot on the tall trench coat man's shoe. "People acting all high and mighty piss me off!" The man raised his fist and went in for a swing, but terribly missed, the man dodged the punch, leaving the drunk wide open. The man regained his balance and glared at the man. 

"Aye, fight me like a man you coward-" Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, the man in the trench coat landed a blow to the punks face. Blood splattered onto the man's fist as he felt bones crack in the other man's face. The drunk fell to the ground, unconscious after the blow to the face, blood spilling out of his, now, broken nose. The man sighed.

"Geez…" The man grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and delicately wiped the blood away from his knuckles. "I'm not a huge fan of getting violent on my day off, but I particularly don't like it when someone rubs their dirty shoes on mine." The other men started to shake in fear of this man, but they weren't going to back down so easily. 

"You asshole," The man looked over at the other punks as he pulled out a pocket knife. "I'll fucking kill you!" The man in the trench coat snapped his fingers.

"Wonwoo." The man standing next to him charged toward the man with the knife, and quickly grabbed his hand and bent it behind his back, the punk screeched in pain and was pressed against the wall, the man called Wonwoo took the knife and put it next to the man's throat. The other punk was scared out of his mind and decided to run out of the alleyway, only to be grabbed by the hair by the man in the trench coat and slammed into the wall. 

"What should I do with him, boss?" The punk just laughed.

"You're not gonna do nothin'," The man in the trench coat just stared unamused. "The cops will get yuh, and you'll get arrested for public violence, you wouldn't dare." Wonwoo was unmoving, the knife still close to his throat.

"I wouldn't?" The man's breath hitched at the response. "From the way I see it, the cops would find nothing more than a bunch of drunks kicking and harassing a poor man, while a couple of bystanders try and help the man suffering and applying self-defense against themselves." The punk's eyes were filled with fear, he started to quiver, and his stomach turned for the worse. 

"And as for violence," Wonwoo responded. "Do you really think I would hesitate to shove this knife to the side of your throat?" Wonwoo lightly picked the man's skin on his neck and watched as a little trickle of blood ran down the blade of the knife. 

"Wonwoo, let him go" Wonwoo let out a disappointed sigh and removed the knife from the punk's neck, but still being relatively angry at the thug, he still slammed his head into the wall. 

Minghao could barely comprehend what happened, after collapsing onto the ground. His hearing was distorted, and his vision was blurry, what once seemed like a group of five people had turned into ten within seconds. Wonwoo looked over at the boy who laid on the ground, tear marks dried onto his face, and bruises that were bright red on his legs. 

"What should we do with the boy?" The man in the trench coat walked up to the scrawny boy, he kneeled down to get a better look at him. The man could see that he was practically on the verge of death, it would only take a few more days before death took him into his arms. His clothes were so old and smelled like roadkill, and his body was boney like he was looking at a skeleton. But one of the saddest things the man saw was the boy's eyes. His eyes were cloudy brown like they were about to be drained of all color. He could tell that whatever the boy had gone through to get to this point in life, made him lose all hope in humanity. 

Minghao looked at the man. He looked like a holy figure, for once in the many years of living in this alley, someone came to look at him, to notice him. This man cared enough to help him from those terrible creatures, he was like the angel Minghao had been waiting for, and for a second that maybe, just maybe the world wasn't as twisted as he thought it was. 

"Thank… you-u." Those were the last words Minghao muttered out before the overwhelming exhaustion from the events struck him, and he fell asleep. 

"Boss?" The man looked at the sleeping boy, his breath ragged, and his body bruised head to toe. The man knew that this boy was knocking at death's door, and with a blizzard soon to come later in the night he surely would freeze. 

He wouldn't survive the night.

The man picked up the boy and cradled him against his chest before turning over to Wonwoo. 

"Bring the car around." Wonwoo looked at him in disbelief. "He's coming with us."

  
  



	2. Good Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING
> 
> Death of a Non-related Seventeen member 
> 
> And some bloody imagery

_ "You're nothing but a disappointment."  _

_ "Why did I have to have such a disgraceful child?" _

_ "What a loser, can't even fend for himself." _

_ "Piece of Shit!"  _

_ "Runt!" _

_ "Fucking Waste!"  _

_ …  _

_ "Bring the car around…." _

_ "He's coming with us."  _

* * *

When Minghao woke up, he had a slight ringing in his ears, most likely from the night before. However, he felt a soft mattress underneath him instead of the old newspapers and concrete he used to lay on to his surprise. His head was now elevated against a feathery pillow, and a white wall loomed above him instead of the dreary morning sky. Where was he? Looking to his side, he saw an EKG monitor, an I.V. pole, along with a Patient monitor. 

If Minghao wasn't mistaken, he was in a hospital. But when he went to push himself up, he was far from a hospital. He was in a bedroom, an eloquent one at that. The room looked like something out of the royal kingdom in England. The bedding had pale blue silk sheets and golden woven designs. The walls were the same as the bedding with intricate designs crafted with more gold, and in the center of the room hung a beautiful crystal chandelier one could only dream of. 

His mind immediately went back to the night before. He remembered the fighting, the pain, and that man's words,  _ "He's coming with us." _ Minghao felt fear rush through his body, the sudden feeling as if he would die here or be tortured.

Quickly he yanked the cords out of his arms and seethed at the pain as little drops of blood emerged from his skin. He threw back the blanket and rushed towards the door. When he opened it, he saw he was greeted by a landing that looked over a large foyer. Just where the hell was he exactly?

"Hey, stop!" Minghao heard a shout to his left as two men in black suits started to run over to him. In a panic, Minghao ran down the nearest staircase, his eyes frantically scanning to find the closest exit. As soon as Minghao saw it, he picked up the pace, but as soon as he did, he tripped over himself. 

"Hey, watch out!" one of the men shouted from the top of the staircase as Minghao tripped. Minghao's entire body tensed as he braised for impact and the possibility of breaking some bones, but instead of feeling the hard marble floor, he felt arms wrapped around him tightly. Instead of face planting into the flooring, Minghao was surprised to feel soft fabric against his face. When he looked up, he locked eyes with the man he saw last night. 

The man who saved him from those drunks. 

"Boss!" The man looked up to the men standing at the top of the stairs. 

"Seokmin, Joshua, how hard is it to look after one man?!" the man yelled.

"We're sorry, boss," Seokmin bowed his head. "We didn't think he would have the strength to run away." The man glared up at them. 

"Well, clearly, you were wrong." Despite the conversation going back and forth, Minghao did only have one goal, and that was to get the hell out of here. Minghao wiggled his way out of the man's grip and tried to get past him, only to, yet again, trip over himself and land on his ass with a thud. Suddenly all attention was on Minghao, and yet again, fear ran through his body. 

"Who are you, people? What do you want with me?" He said, breathing heavily. The man that held him walked over to Minghao. 

"It's all right, we're not going to hurt you," he said.

"How do I know that?" Minghao retorted. "You guys kidnapped me from my alleyway and hooked me up to machines in that room. How do I know you guys don't want to experiment on me or kill me?" Minghao was using the palms of his hands to move away from the man that was walking toward him, which only led him to be pressed against the wall. 

"If my intention was to kill you," The man said, leaning down. "I would've left you in that alleyway." Minghao's breathing slowed down, a part of him was in disbelief that someone would actually help him, and the other part wanted to trust him. 

"Ah, you're bleeding." Minghao looked down at his arm and saw small bloodstreams coming from his arm after he ripped out the cords. Quickly the man pulled out his handkerchief, wiped away the blood, and then gently wrapped the cloth around the wound. "We can get that patched up back in your room." The man smiled at Minghao, and oddly enough, it calmed Minghao down. 

"What's… your name?" Minghao asked.

"My Name is Wen Junhui." He looked behind him and pointed at the man with glasses and the men upstairs. "The guy with glasses is my friend Wonwoo, and the idiots up there are Seokmin and Joshua." Minghao just nodded his head in response. 

"What's your name?" Junhui said. Minghao was a little shocked at the question, but then again, he was just some guy they picked up without question. 

"Minghao… Xu Minghao." Junhui smiled at his soft tone. 

"Well, Minghao, can you stand?" Junhui held out his hand for Minghao to take; he was a little nervous but took it nonetheless. As Junhui went to help Minghao stand, Minghao fell back to the ground, making Junhui chuckle. "Guess not."

"I-I uh... I-" Without being able to think of a response, Junhui leaned down and picked Minghao up. "Wh-!"

"You must have used all your strength to run out of here." Minghao looked up at Jun. "It's okay, I can carry you." Junhui looked at his men and motioned them to go up the stairs. As he started to walk up the stairs, Minghao began to feel nostalgic of the night before. The feeling of Junhui's arms carrying him out of the alleyway, and his scent of fresh pine, it was somehow… comforting. Once they got back in the room, Junhui laid him down in his bed and sat at the edge of the bed. 

"Joshua, get the Jeonghan for me, please." The man with the soft blonde hair bowed his head and walked outside the room to get Jeonghan. "Seokmin, ask the chef to prepare something for our guest." Seokmin nodded and walked out of the room, leaving the two alone in the room. Once Junhui looked over at the boy, Minghao instinctively started to cower into a ball and grip hard onto the blanket, avoiding his gaze.

"It's okay, Minghao," Junhui reached over and laid his hand softly on Minghao's knee. "I'm not going to hurt you." Minghao looked over him, lightly biting his lip. 

"Why are you helping me?" Minghao said through clouded eyes.

"Because that's what you wanted." Minghao's eyes widened. "As dangerous as I might have come off last night, you still thanked me for helping you." Jun moved closer to the boy. 

"But I knew you needed more help than that," Jun remarked. "Am I right?" Minghao looked down at his hands and started to fidget, and nodded his head in response. 

"...Thank you," Minghao hung his head as tears started to fall down his face in shame. The fact that someone would go out of their way to help him felt unreal. Never has he thought that he was someone worth helping, but to this man, he was. Seeing his tears, Junhui responded, trying to reach over and wipe away his tears but was interrupted by the door opening, making both boys look over at the doorway. 

"I leave for a few hours, and he's already trying to escape!" A man with blonde hair and a doctor's coat walked over to both of them by the bed. "God, Jun, don't you have men guarding the door?" Jun rolled his eyes.

"Well, I thought I did." Jun shot a glance at Joshua, who looked really ashamed. He looked back over at Minghao, whose eyes were darting from person to person. "Minghao, this is Jeonghan; he's going to be taking care of you until you're able to stand on your own two feet again." Jeonghan held out his hand. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Minghao shyly shook Jeonghan's hand. 

"You too…" Minghao responded softly, which made Jeonghan chuckle. 

"You're awfully cute, Minghao," Minghao blushed. "I look forward to helping you." 

"Thank you… Sir." Jeonghan chuckled again at Minghao's response. 

"You can just call me Jeonghan, sweetheart." Minghao's eyes glistened at the nickname and lightly nodded his head. Jeonghan looked over at Junhui. "He's going to need a lot of medical work done before he'll be able to stand on his own, as well as hygiene maintenance if we are going to get him back out into the world." Minghao didn't know how to feel at the hygiene remark, but he did come straight from an alleyway. 

"You can email me the expenses," Jun stood up from the bed. "Don't worry about the price; just do your best to help him in any way you can." 

"Yes, Mr. Wen," Jeonghan responded. The man named Wonwoo emerged from the doorway and walked over to Jun, cupping his hand against his ear. Jun nodded his head at Wonwoo. 

"Minghao, I have to go for a little bit," Jun said. "I'll be back soon to check up on you, alright?" Jun smiled at him to give him some sense of relief.

"Okay." Jun gave him another smile and walked out of the room with Wonwoo standing right behind him. Minghao wondered what kind of business he had to attend to, and what exactly Jun did for a living to get such a big mansion.

"Don't worry about him," Jeonghan broke the silence. "He comes in and out of the house all the time; you'll get used to it." 

"I see." Still, Minghao wondered what kind of life Jun had to get here, "must be nice." he thought. 

"Now," Jeonghan clapped his hands together. "How about we take a bath?" Minghao's eyes shot at Jeonghan.

"We?" he repeated.

"Yep!" Minghao was immediately afraid. "You're gonna need some help washing your back since you can hardly stand." Minghao looked down at his legs, upset at how weak they were. 

"Yeah, but…" Minghao put his hands between his legs and curled himself back up into a ball. "Isn't that a little… intrusive?" Jeonghan just swatted his hand at him. 

"Don't worry, I won't look, plus this is all to help you feel better," Jeonghan walked over to him and grabbed his hands, lifting him out of bed. "I'll hold onto you as you walk, just so you can get used to using your legs again, like baby steps." Minghao nodded his head and took wobbly steps toward the bathroom door Jeonghan was guiding him to. If Minghao was honest with himself, he felt kind of pathetic needing help to stand, even though it was out of his control. Jeonghan opened up the door, and to Minghao's surprise, the bathroom turned out to look more like a bathhouse. 

"This is a bathroom?" Minghao turned his head over his shoulder to look at Jeonghan. 

"I know, it's so much smaller than the others," Minghao had no idea how to feel at that response. "I'm going to sit you down in that chair over there, okay?" Minghao nodded his head as Jeonghan helped sit on the small stool. 

"Go ahead and take off your clothes, and don't worry, I won't look." Jeonghan turned his back toward Minghao, giving him some privacy. Minghao took off his ragged clothes, scrunched them up into a ball like a piece of paper, and threw them on the ground. He turned his back toward Jeonghan's and put his hands between his legs. 

"I'm done." Jeonghan turned around with a smile.

"Great, I'll get the water going-" The second Jeonghan's eyes locked onto Minghao's back, he was mortified at what he saw. Minghao's back bared a massive scar that reached all across his back in the shape of an "X" along with smaller red scars that occupied the gaps in between. "I'll make sure not to make it too hot for you…" 

"Thank you, Jeonghan." Jeonghan couldn't bring himself to look much longer. It made him sick just thinking that someone could do that to him. He quickly grabbed a bucket and filled it with warm water, as well as some soap.

"I'm gonna pour this over your head, okay?" Minghao nodded and let Jeonghan pour the warm water over his body. It felt so refreshing, Minghao couldn't remember the last time he had a bath, most likely years ago.

Jeonghan grabbed another buck of warm water and started to scrub down Minghao with soap. As he scrubbed, all the dirt and muck started to wash away, revealing Minghao's porcelain skin that had countless amounts of bruises. No matter how hard Jeonghan scrubbed, they weren't washing away. After dosing him in more water and washing his hair, Jeonghan helped him up into the bath for him to soak. 

"I'll be back in 5 minutes, so just relax and enjoy the heat." Minghao looked up at Jeonghan with his brown doe eyes. 

"Okay." Jeonghan pulled a smile for Minghao, but soon as he turned his back, it dissipated into a frown. His mind was only focused on one thing, no matter how much he tried to repress it. As he stepped outside the bathroom, he hung his head, knowing all too well how he could've gotten those scars. 

He had seen hell itself, being treated the way he was; it was like being on the streets was a sign of mercy. Jeonghan knew those scars all too well. Minghao was continuously whipped, day in and day out. The "X" led Jeonghan to believe his abuser went for the same motions every time as a way to mark him and also had Minghao curled up or either tied down. Jeonghan couldn't imagine going through such pain, it made his skin crawl, and to his surprise, it made him cry. He wanted to know everything that happened to Minghao.

* * *

Minghao sat in the tub in complete tranquility. This was the most peaceful moment he had ever felt in his life, just complete silence and warm water surrounding his skin. Jeonghan had put in special scented oil, which Minghao was pretty sure it was for his bad smell. But he loved the sweet scent of peaches. Jeonghan walked into the bath with towels and some clothes for Minghao to wear. 

"It's time to get out." He smiled at Minghao, who was slowly coming out of it. "Here, I'll help you out." Jeonghan leaned down and pulled Minghao out of the bath and dried him off like a toddler. He gave Minghao the soft clothes to put on and once again helped him out of the bathroom. 

Minghao lied in his bed as Jeonghan applied different pads to his chest and arms to machines, as well as hooking him up to an IV drip. 

"Seokmin will be in with some food for you." Minghao's eye lightened up; how long had it been since he last had a meal. "I suggest you eat slowly or else you'll hurt your stomach, and after you're done, you should get some rest." 

"Thank you." Jeonghan smiled at him again.

"It's no problem-"

"I really mean it." Minghao cut him off. "None of you had to do this for me, and yet here I am; you even helped me take a bath when I couldn't even stand. If I'm honest, I feel like you're taking care of a lost cause. But even now, you still stand beside me and give me a smile. So, thank you, Jeonghan, for everything so far." Jeonghan walked over to Minghao and crouched down on his knees. He looked up at the puppy-eyed boy and ruffled his hair. 

"As long as I'm taking care of you, I'll never give up on you." Minghao's eyes sparkled, looking at Jeonghan. "So don't worry, I'll be with you until the very end Minghao." Suddenly as Jeonghan finished that sentence, the door flung open with a happy faced Seokmin. 

"The food's here!" Jeonghan just rolled his eyes at him.

"You really know how to ruin a moment, don't you, Seokmin?" Seokmins expression faltered. 

"Why, what's happening?" Jeonghan just waved it off as carts of food came rushing into Minghao's bedside. 

"Don't worry about it." Jeonghan turned over to look at Minghao. "Seokmin will be here with you; I have to go update Junhui on your condition." Minghao looked down at his palms.

"I see…" He said dejectedly. 

"Don't worry, Seokmin is harmless; in fact, he's kind of an idiot," Jeonghan said, ignoring the man who was shooting him a death glare. "Plus, when you wake up, I'll be right here waiting." Minghao looked at him and cracked a smile for the first time. 

"Okay." Jeonghan smiled and ruffled his hair again and walked out of the room.

* * *

A man was lunged forward in a chair, his hands bound behind his back, and blood dripping down his face. The room was dark with a singular hanging light over his head, with only two men standing in front of him. 

"I'll ask you again." Junhui walked over to the man and grabbed a handful of the man's hair, forcing him to look up at Junhui. "Did you really think you had a chance?" The man's face went sour and spat up at Junhui. Not being happy about having spit on his face Junhui landed a punch on his jaw, knocking the chair over to the floor. 

"G-go… to hell, Wen." The man choked out. Junhui just wiped his cheek with his sleeve and turned away from him. 

"Wonwoo," Junhui placed his hand on Wonwoo's shoulder. "Dispose of him." Not looking back, Junhui walked out of the room as Wonwoo readied his silencer gun. As Junhui shut the door, he could hear the faint noise of the gun being fired, knowing the deed was done. As he walked down the hallway of the basement, he saw Jeonghan leaning against a wall. 

"What are you doing down here?" Junhui spoke. 

"I'm here to give you an update on Minghao," Junhui's interest peaked. "Also, who was that man you just killed?" Jeonghan said, crossing his arms. 

"Some man from last night," Junhui pulled out a pack of cigarettes and popped one into his mouth. "He wasn't too happy that I shot his boss after he failed to pay up, so he tried to sneak into the estate to kill me. Instead, he bumped into one of my men; the rest is history from there." Junhui lit the cigarette and took in a large puff of smoke. 

"The guy was an idiot," Jeonghan said. "Once your boss dies, it's best to just run away; getting revenge is just a death wish at that point." Junhui took in another puff of smoke. 

"You're right, yet I still admire his animosity for coming this far." Junhui breathed out. "So, how's Minghao?" Jeonghan looked away from Junhui. 

"He's going to need to be in a wheelchair for at least a month before he's able to walk again, and his body needs to be wrapped in bandages until his bruises heal. In the meantime, he's going to have to get some shots done, as well as dental work."

"Is that all?" Jeonghan shook his head and looked down.

"There's one other thing." Junhui narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?" Jeonghan took in a deep breath. 

"Minghao's back is covered in whip scars," Junhui's eyes widened. "So much so his entire back has a giant 'X' mark." 

"You don't think it's-"

"It's a possibility," Jeonghan cut off. "But we won't know for sure unless Minghao tells us." Junhui glared at the ground as he took in one last puff of smoke before flicking the cigarette to the ground and rubbing it with his foot. Junhui walked past Jeonghan, not bothering to look.

"Let's go." He said deeply. 

"Boss," Junhui kept walking. "What are you planning to do?" Junhui stopped in his tracks. 

"I'm not going to interrogate Minghao if that's what you're thinking," Jeonghan let out a sigh of relief. "In due time, he'll open up about his past, and from there, we can decide what our next move is." Jeonghan pushed himself off the wall. 

"What if those scars came from him?" Jeonghan said.

"If it is…" Junhui looked over his shoulder.

  
  


"I'll kill him." 

  
  



End file.
